Floating Wind Farm to be Developed in Portugal

European offshore wind industry is increasingly embracing floating wind technology. French power group Engie, Portugal's EDP Renewables, along with Japanese energy developers Mitsubishi Corporation and Chiyoda are going to develop a floating offshore wind farm project in Portugal.

Located in the Atlantic ocean, 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, this pioneering project is expected to be fully operational by 2018.

The 25 MW project would be equipped with 3 to 4 wind turbines on semi-submersible floating foundations developed by Principle Power.

Earlier, the prototype of this project has been tested in Aguçadoura, Portugal with a Vestas V80 2.0-MW wind turbine. It produced more than 16 GW of electricity for almost four years of its operation in extreme weather conditions.

Floating wind farms hold huge potential as they can be feasibly installed in deepwaters, whereas traditional wind farms are restricted to 50 meters of depth.

The world's largest floating wind farm is currently under development in Scotland by Norway's energy giant Statoil.